Snow Day
by TitansRule
Summary: After the drug bust, Jessica goes in early to work, but finds that there's very little she can do to help. Flack makes her feel better. Story #23 in my 'Kindred Spirits' series.


**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY.  
****Series: 'Kindred Spirits' – see my profile for the full list of stories.  
****Spoilers: **_**Snow Day.**_

* * *

Snow Day

Jess was tired. She wasn't denying that, even as she turned on her TV to catch the tail end of the morning news, poured herself a cup of coffee and tied her hair back, all in one swift movement. She didn't have to be at work for another few hours, but her internal alarm clock had, once again, woken her up early. She swore it was a curse of the job. Her mind was miles away until a familiar voice caught her attention.

"_This morning at approximately 6am, our narcotics tactical team seized 900 kilos of cocaine. That's an estimated street value of over a hundred million dollars."_

"Holy crap." Jess froze, suddenly awake, staring at her partner, who was facing the reporters with a calm exterior, despite the meteorite of a statement he had just made.

"_We also apprehended several suspects we believe to be connected to the Wilder crime family."_

"_Detective, isn't this is the biggest drug bust in New York history?"_

"_That's what they tell me."_

Jess couldn't help the snigger that escaped her, hearing the smugness in his voice. She knew that he had been leading a drug bust that morning, but no one had been expecting a haul that big.

"_What I can tell you is that today's seizure will financially cripple one of New York City's most dangerous organised crime families."_

"_We understand there was a shoot-out; were there any casualties?"_

Don faltered and cleared his throat; Jess frowned, seeing his hesitation. _"One suspect was killed and one detective sustained minor injuries."_

Her relief was short-lived; if Don hadn't hesitated because of his team, he had been the one to take a life this morning.

"_Detective, can you confirm rumours that Gavin Wilder was killed during the bust?"_

Jess sat down heavily at her kitchen island, taking a great gulp of coffee.

"_Gavin Wilder's body was found at the scene. Without going into too much detail, I'm confident that Dr. Peyton Driscoll's autopsy report will confirm that he was dead prior to the raid on the warehouse."_

Jess frowned, making herself another mug of coffee. If Gavin Wilder was dead before NYPD showed up, he had probably been killed by another member of the gang, which meant that they now had no clue who was leading the gang. She grabbed her cell as a text came in, and glanced at the words on the screen.

_Not sure whether I'm relieved or not. Could use a friend, Jess. And a coffee, if you don't mind._

Jess shook her head as she got in the car, half-irritated that he thought he could just 'summon' her in early – which, if she was being honest, she didn't mind quite so much, given the circumstances – and expect coffee at the same time, but still she found herself pulling up outside Tillery's diner on the way to work, running up to the counter. "Two coffees to go please."

The waitress held up a hand. "Don't tell me, Detective; one black with three sugars, one cream with four, right?"

Jess smiled wryly. "We're in here too often, aren't we?"

She laughed. "I wouldn't say that, Detective; you're two of my favourite customers." She set two lidded cups on the counter.

Jess handed over the money without needing any prompting, mumbling under her breath, "Flack owes me." She caught sight of the woman's curious expression. "My partner."

"Yeah, he was on the news this morning." She handed the money back to her. "It's on the house, Detective. And, before you ask, I won't get in any trouble. I should think he needs the caffeine and you need the energy to deal with a male colleague who's pulled you in early."

"How did you…?" Jess began, then cut herself off when the blonde woman laughed.

"I've got one like that." She jerked her head towards a man at the other end of the counter, who looked up, obviously knowing that someone was talking about him. "Just tell him that we're all grateful for that raid this morning."

"I will." Jess promised. "Thank you…" She trailed off, looking for a name tag.

"Felicity." She filled in with a smile.

"Thank you, Felicity." Jess grabbed the cups. "I'll tell him."

When she entered the precinct, it was filled with every-day chaos, with almost no sign that the biggest drug-bust in New York history had taken place just this morning.

Except for one.

Don Flack was sat at his desk, feverishly filling in paperwork, looking utterly exhausted.

"Coffee's up." She announced, placing the cup on his desk.

Don looked up, a smile creasing his lips. "You're an angel, Jess." He stated quietly. "No pun intended."

"We're in there too often." Jess pulled up a chair to his desk and pulled his completed paperwork towards him. "They know our order off by heart and thank you for leading that raid this morning."

"Thanks for coming in, Angell." Don told her, looking tired. "Although now you're here, I don't know what…"

"Just let me proof-read it." Jess suggested. "You know what Gerard's like about clocking in on time. I'm not supposed to be here and you know that'll cut your time in half."

The two worked in comfortable silence for a while, pausing only for Jess to stand up and clock in with the captain. As it happened, there was very little else happening, so she went back to proof-reading the paperwork as fast as Don was finishing it. He still hadn't mentioned why he asked her to come in and she spent the time trying to figure out how to approach it.

"I caught that press conference this morning, by the way." Jess told him finally.

"Yeah?" Don glanced at her. "How'd I do?"

"Very professional." Jess assured him. "Really good. Do you mind me asking what happened?"

"What do you mean?" Don asked quietly.

"When they asked about the casualties, you hesitated." Jess told him, watching him carefully for any sign of breakage. "And you said you needed a friend as well as coffee. You wanna talk about it?"

Don sighed. "Staring down the barrel of an AK-47 and putting a hole in a man's chest wasn't the way I wanted to start my day, Jess; that's all. It's not getting to me as much as I expected it to. It's not the first time I've had to do it and it won't be the last. I'm surprised you weren't with the raid this morning."

"I'm only a third-grade, Don." Jess reminded him absently, correcting something on the form in front of her.

"So?" Don shrugged. "You're my partner, Jess; you should've been there."

Jess sighed. "I'm not trained, Don. You need tactical training to be put in a situation like that. To make it on to the course, you need sponsorship from a superior officer stating that you are capable of completing it."

"And you are." Don stated, in a tone that suggested anyone thinking otherwise was crazy. "So what's the problem?"

"My father." Jess rolled her eyes. "You remember that conversation we had about people thinking you used your father's name to climb the ladder?"

"Yeah." Don answered slowly. "Why?"

"My father has tried everything possible to do the opposite." Jess kept her eyes firmly on the paper in front of her. "He couldn't stop me graduating the academy, but it's a miracle I made it to third-grade. He's managed to get to everyone higher than me; there's no way I'm getting that training."

Before Don could respond, his phone rang and he picked up. "Flack. Danny?" His complexion paled to an ashen colour. "What? Wait! Wait! Dammit!" He dropped the handset and stood abruptly.

"What is it?" Jess asked, startled.

"There's a hostage situation at the crime scene." Don disappeared in the direction of Gerard's office, leaving Jess gaping after him.

Within a few minutes, the detectives had assembled, Kevlar vests strapped on at the ready. Jess hesitated and slipped into the locker room, standing back to let a couple of uniformed officers past her. "Flack?"

"Yeah?" Don didn't turn, letting his eyes meet hers in the mirror instead, making sure his vest was secure.

"Danny's not supposed to be at the scene; it's Lindsay's shift." Jess stated quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Don grabbed the shotgun from his locker. "Try and find her for me?"

"Sure." Jess crossed her arms, almost hugging herself. "Be careful, okay?"

Don grinned at her. "You know, if I didn't know any better, Detective Angell, I'd say you were worried about me."

Jess didn't laugh. "I'm serious."

Don's grin faded and he crossed the locker room to stand in front of her. "I promise, Jess. I'll bring everyone back safely." He gave her a one-armed hug and disappeared out into the precinct.

Jess hung back, unwilling to watch them all leave. She just wished she was going with them and, once again, cursed her father for being unable to accept that his little girl had actually grown up.

* * *

Jess paced the length of her living room for what felt like the hundredth time, willing her cell-phone to ring. When she'd arrived at the crime lab, it had been chaos; a gas-leak had forced an evacuation. While she was trying to find Mac, Lindsay had turned up and gone straight to the scene to wait out the hostage situation. Jess knew that the captain would have her badge if she went within a hundred feet of that place, so she opted to head back home, waiting to hear from someone that the situation had been resolved without any casualties.

Her next turn was interrupted by a knock at the door and she changed direction, not bothering to look through the peep-hole before opening the door, only to find her partner standing in the hallway. "Don!"

"Hey." Don looked exhausted. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Jess stood back to let him pass and closed the door behind him. "Do you want anything? Water? Coffee? Something stronger?"

"No, thanks." Don sank onto the couch. "Sorry for dropping by like this, Jess; I know I should have phoned or something…"

"Hey, don't worry about it." Jess insisted, sitting down next to him. "You okay? What happened? Are Danny and Adam alright?"

"They'll be fine." Don assured her. "It's mostly psychological, though Danny's got a couple cracked ribs and a broken hand."

Jess frowned. "Won't that cause him any problems?"

"He'll be fine." Don repeated. "Turned out, the whole thing was a set-up to keep us busy; the rest of the gang was faking a gas leak at the lab."

Jess groaned. "Dammit! I was there! I thought there was something off about that guy at the door. I should have known something was wrong."

"Hey!" Don nudged her slightly. "How? How many people work at the crime lab? The only people who realised were Mac, Stella and Hawkes and that's only because they were still inside. Everyone else was oblivious until we turned up. The gang there are all dead; Mac blew the lab up and then took off with Peyton for London."

Jess shook her head. "What a day, huh?"

"We got the guy who killed Candace Broadbent as well, apparently." Don added. "New leader of the Wilder gang; shortest reign in criminal history."

"Well, at least everything worked out." Jess commented quietly. "I just wish I could have been more help."

"You know, I was thinking about what you said this morning." Don stated conversationally.

"You had time to think about that?" Jess questioned.

"Not really." Don admitted. "But it occurred to me while I was out there that I'd have felt a hell of a lot better if it was you watching my back. I mean, I trust every member of that team, but you're my partner. If I had a dollar for every time I turned to talk to you once during that wait, to suggest something or ask you something, I'd never have to work again."

Jess sighed. "Believe me, Don, I wanted to be out there. But no one's gonna consider sponsoring my training; my father's owed too many favours."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking about." Don leaned forwards, staring intently at his hands. "I know I never pull rank, but … you do realise that I'm a first-grade detective, right?"

Jess frowned. "Yeah."

"And you're a third-grade." Don continued.

"Right." Jess agreed slowly. "What's your point?"

"So I'm your superior, right?" Don asked.

"I'm your partner." Jess reminded him. "But, yes, technically, I suppose you are."

Don grinned. "So I'm eligible to sponsor you."

Jess froze. "Would you?"

Don nodded. "That's kinda what I was getting at. Actually, the form is in my desk, already filled out; I did it before I clocked out. Say the word and it's on its way."

"You realise there's a possibility that my father will either kill you or do everything in his power to make your life a living hell?" Jess asked.

Don's grin faded into a soft smile. "You remember the day we became partners?"

Jess nodded wordlessly; it had been the same day she had finally told him her name.

"A lot of crazy stuff's happened since then." Don told her. "But if there's one thing I've noticed, it's that I was right; you should be at least a second grade by now. If your father's anything like mine, his problem stems from the belief that women shouldn't be on the force, am I right?"

Jess nodded again, wondering how vocal Flack Sr. had been about that for his son _not_ to share the same beliefs; her own father had never really mentioned it until she applied for the academy and even then she had only picked up on the underlying tone of his words.

"You deserve the chance to prove him wrong, Jess; Gerard may get under our skins sometimes, but he's also a stickler for the rules." Don smirked. "In this case, I've done nothing wrong. So what do you say?"

Impulsively, Jess hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

His arms closed around her waist and she could have sworn she felt him press a soft kiss to her hair, before his voice sounded low near her ear, sending his warm breath tumbling across her skin and forcing her to fight back a shiver. "No problem."

A voice in the back of her head – the one that sounded uncannily like her father – told her to move; that being this close to him in these circumstances was dangerous.

But another part of her mind – the part that seemed so in-tune to her partner that she felt she could read his thoughts if she chose to – had picked up on the faint shaking in his arms and she knew that the whole day, although successful, was taking its toll on her and he needed her comfort more than he would let on.

So she stayed where she was, letting her head rest contentedly on his shoulder, drawing her own comfort from the warmth of his embrace, letting it tell her that he was there and that this wasn't a dream, but at the same time feeling just a little bit more of her resolve crumble away.

* * *

Jess woke the next morning on her couch, something that hadn't happened since her first double shift, when she'd been so tired that she collapsed in the living room rather than dragging herself to her bedroom.

But this morning was different to that in many ways; to start with, there was none of the discomfort she associated with sleeping on the couch.

And then there was the smell wafting over the top of the couch from the kitchen.

The realisation that someone else was in her apartment brought the previous night flooding back and she realised that they both must have drifted off where they sat.

She lay there for a few minutes, waiting for her blush to recede, but the notion that she slept in Don's arms last night didn't seem to want to leave her mind.

Of course, she couldn't stay there forever and finally forced herself to sit up, running a hand through her hair, trying to rid herself of the tangles.

"Morning." Don greeted from the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well, considering my couch has to be one of the most uncomfortable places to drift off." Jess answered. "You?"

"Ditto." Don grinned. "Although you mostly slept on me, so that explains your predicament."

Jess's blush came back full force and she murmured an apology, which he waved off with an airy hand.

"Don't worry about it. I entertained the idea of moving you and going home, but I was exhausted myself." Don handed her a plate. "Made you breakfast. Two eggs over easy, turkey bacon on the crispy side, glass of OJ."

"Wait, you let me sleep in _and_ made me breakfast?" Jess sat down. "And it's _my_ day off, not yours. I'll have to keep you around."

To her surprise, Don flushed slightly. "Hey, you'd do the same for me, right?"

The note of hesitancy in his voice caused her to glace up. "Of course. Come on, Don; you're one of my best friends."

He gave her a mock-hurt look. "One of?"

The slight tension in the room dissipated and she laughed. "Well, I do need to include Lindsay in that. I mean it, Don; you made the move to NYPD so much easier for me." She took a bite of egg. "And since when can you cook?"

Don laughed. "I am a man of many talents, Jess." He checked his phone as it beeped. "Looks like I've got a case. I'd better stop off home on the way; Stella's got eyes like a hawk when it comes to what people are wearing."

Jess laughed. "Yeah, we wouldn't want _that_ rumour to start spreading."

"No, we wouldn't." Don agreed. He grabbed his coat and paused next to her as she tilted her head back to look at him curiously. "I'll get that paperwork sent off today."

Jess smiled at him. "Thank you. This really does mean a lot to me."

"Don't mention it." Don leant down and kissed her cheek. "See you later, Jess."

"Yeah, see you." Jess heard herself respond, but the words made very little sense. All she could think about was the slight tingling in her skin where his lips had touched her, causing her heartbeat to quicken slightly.

Something told her that things had just changed between them; a small shift in dynamics that could well change everything.

Slightly louder was the voice in her mind that asked how it was he knew her favourite breakfast when, to the best of her knowledge, they'd never eaten together and she'd never mentioned it.

Jess took another bite of her meal and the voice was swiftly silenced. What did it matter how he'd found out? That man could cook and she had always needed food in the morning – none of that 'I can't eat that early' stuff for her. They said breakfast was the most important meal of the day and she was determined to enjoy it.

Everything else could wait. It was her turn for a snow day.

**

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AN: Review please!**


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